Difference between revisions of "Wood-fired generator"

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<onlyinclude>{{infobox main|building|
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{{Infobox main|building
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|name = Wood-fired generator  
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| name = Wood-fired generator
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|image = fueledgenerator.png|128px{{!}} Fueled generator
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| image = fueledgenerator.png
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|description = Produces electricity from burning wood.  
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| description = Produces power by consuming wood. Must be periodically loaded with wood fuel by hand.
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|type = Buildings
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| type = Building
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|type2 = Power
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| type2 = Power
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|placeable = Yes
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| placeable = true
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|size = 2|2
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| path cost = 50
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|hp =300  
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| passability = pass through only
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|efficiency =  
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| blockswind = true
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|power = + 1000
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| cover = 1
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|buy = {{icon|metal|100 }} {{icon|component |2}}
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| minifiable = false
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|sell = {{icon|metal|75 }} {{icon|component |1}}
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| size = 2 ˣ 2
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}}</onlyinclude>
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| flammability = 1
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A '''wood-fired generator''' is a power source that runs by burning [[wood]] as fuel. Holds up to 75 wood max, and will provide power for roughly 3 days and 9 hours before running out, for a fuel consumption of '''22 per day.''' It can be constructed after [[research]]ing Electricity. It also produces a slight amount of heat as secondary effect but not enough to classify as temperature control element. Power production is constant so long as they do not run out of fuel which greatly reduces your base's need for [[battery|batteries]], but will eat into your wood reserves over time, and will add additional workload for your [[hauling|haulers]] to take care of. If you are playing on a map with ample [[tree]]s and wish to avoid dealing with weather's impact on your power supply, wood-fired generators are a reasonable solution.
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| hp = 300
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| beauty = -20
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| power = 1000
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| glowradius = 6
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| glowcolor = (217, 112, 33)
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| heatpersecond = 6
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| terrain affordance = medium
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| research = Electricity
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| skill 1 = Construction
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| skill 1 level = 4
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| work to make = 2500
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| resource 1 = Steel
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| resource 1 amount = 100
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| resource 2 = Component
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| resource 2 amount = 2
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| fuel filter = Wood
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| fuel capacity = 75.0
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| fuel consumption rate = 22.0
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}}
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A '''wood-fired generator''' is a power source that runs by burning [[wood]] as fuel, producing some [[temperature|heat]] as a byproduct.
  
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== Acquisition ==
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{{Acquisition}}
  
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== History ==
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== Summary ==
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The wood-fired generator consumes {{Icon Small|wood}} 22 [[wood]] per day and generates a constant 1000W as long as it is switched on and fueled. It can hold up to 75 fuel at a time, for a maximum run time of 3.27 days. Fuel consumption is not dependent on how much power is actually drawn.  Fuel has to be delivered to the generator by a [[Work#Haul|hauler colonist]]. It can be switched off; in the off state it will neither consume fuel nor produce power.
  
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Prior to Beta 18, wood-fired generators were known as '''fueled generators''', but were otherwise identical.
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It outputs [[light]] in a 6 tile radius, with the nearest {{P|Light Radius}} tiles being above 50% light level and considered lit.  Note that the light source is centered at the bottom-left tile of the generator, rather than the "true" center of the generator. It heats at a rate of 6 heat per second<sup>{{Check Tag|Exact mechanic unclear|Provides comparison with other heat sources but doesn't explain how much it actually heats}}</sup>.
  
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== Analysis ==
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Wood-fired generators incur considerable labor costs for [[Chop_Wood|chopping]] and [[hauling|hauling]] wood, but provide an improvement from neolithic technology. They can make a decent source of consistent, earlygame power.
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=== Wood powered appliances ===
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A variety of buildings are powered directly by wood, such as [[campfire]]s and [[torch lamp]]s. It is significantly more efficient to fuel a generator and run the electric equivalents, if all 1000 W of power is used. The generator does not scale with power use, so if power is wasted, then fueled versions may be superior. In addition, electric buildings require more infrastructure, and are vulnerable to [[solar flare]]s and other interruptions.
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{| class="wikitable"
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! Wood-powered appliance
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! Wood per day
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! Electric equivalent
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! Equivalent wood per day<ref>Equivalent wood per day is assuming is the percentage of a wood fired generator power generation multiplied by the generators wood consumption. Note that this assumes that the generators entire production capacity is used.</ref>
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|-
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| [[Campfire]]<ref name="temperature">Campfires and passive coolers regulate temperature at the same rate as heaters and coolers, but have a maximum/minimum temperature. In addition, both campfires and passive coolers are unable to be turned off, consuming wood until none is left.</ref> (roofed)
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| {{Icon Small|Wood|| 10}}
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| [[Heater]]<ref name="temperature" />
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| {{Icon Small|Wood|| {{#expr: -22*{{Q|Heater|Power Consumption #}}/{{P|Power Consumption #}}}}}}
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|-
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| [[Passive cooler]]<ref name="temperature" />
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| {{Icon Small|Wood|| 10}}
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| [[Cooler]]<ref name="temperature" />
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| {{Icon Small|Wood|| {{#expr: -22*{{Q|Cooler|Power Consumption #}}/{{P|Power Consumption #}}}}}}
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|-
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| [[Fueled stove]]
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| {{Icon Small|Wood||160}}{{Check Tag|Verify|Needs to be checked and then confirmed on the main building page}}
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| [[Electric stove]]<ref name="production">Fueled stoves and smithies only consume power when being actively worked, while electric stoves and smithies have to manually toggled off to save power. This comparison assumes they are on for the same length of time.</ref>
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| {{Icon Small|Wood|| {{#expr: -22*{{Q|Electric stove|Power Consumption #}}/{{P|Power Consumption #}}}}}}
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|-
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| [[Fueled smithy]]
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| {{Icon Small|Wood||  ?}}{{Check Tag|Detail|Needs to be checked and then added to the main building page}}
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| [[Electric smithy]]<ref name="production" />
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| {{Icon Small|Wood|| {{#expr: -22*{{Q|Electric smithy|Power Consumption #}}/{{P|Power Consumption #}}}}}}
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|-
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| [[Torch lamp]] (roofed)
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| {{Icon Small|Wood||  2}}
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| [[Standing lamp]]<ref>Standing lamps don't produce heat, unlike torch lamps, but light a larger area. This also does not include the effect of the [[Research#Advanced lights|Advanced lights]] halving the power consumption.</ref>
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| {{Icon Small|Wood|| {{#expr: -22*{{Q|Standing lamp|Power Consumption #}}/{{P|Power Consumption #}}}}}}
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|}
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<references />
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=== Wind turbines ===
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[[Wind turbine]]s are also unlocked via researching [[Research#Electricity|Electricity]]. They require no labor to maintain, but do require a large amount of space free of structures and trees. This can make them difficult to defend, and completely unsuitable in certain base layouts. Wind turbine power output is variable, realistically forcing the construction of [[battery|batteries]] to smooth out periods of low power production.
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If you have both wind and wood-fired generators, there's no reason why you can't use both at the same time. You can use wood when wind power is low, turning off the generator when extra power isn't required.
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=== Chemfuel powered generators ===
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A [[chemfuel powered generator]] is generally more efficient in terms of both wood and work. However, it is difficult to obtain chemfuel in the earlygame.
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Each chemfuel generator generates {{Q|Chemfuel powered generator|Power Consumption}} W of power. Assuming the colony is running a [[biofuel refinery]] to make chemfuel from wood, each consumes {{Icon Small|wood||{{#expr:(4.5/35) * 70}}}} [[wood]] per day and an extra {{Ticks|(4.5/35) * 2000 round 0}} of work. Powering the biofuel refinery takes {{Q|Biofuel refinery|Power Consumption}} W of power, but takes only {{Ticks/gametime|2000}} to produce enough fuel for {{#expr:35/9 round 2}} in-game days of fuel, or on average equivalent of a constant load of only {{#expr:(-{{Q|Biofuel refinery|Power Consumption #}}*(2000/60000))/(35/9) round 2}} W.
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The extra {{ticks|(4.5/35) * 2000 round 0}} of work is not nothing, but the reduced wood saves at least {{ticks|((22-(4.5*70/35))/{{Q|Cypress tree|Harvest Yield}}) * {{Q|Cypress tree|Harvest Work #}} round 0}} of work in tree cutting work, assuming the most efficient harvest tree and that the tree doesn't have to be planted first. This means that a pawn requires a [[Plant Work Speed]] of {{%|(((22-(4.5*70/35))/{{Q|Cypress tree|Harvest Yield}}) * {{Q|Cypress tree|Harvest Work #}})/((4.5/35) * 2000) round 2}} (Plants skill 13) to make it more work efficient to use the wood fired generator, and this increases to a massive {{%|(((22-(4.5*70/35))/{{Q|Cypress tree|Harvest Yield}}) * ({{Q|Cypress tree|Harvest Work #}} + {{Q|Cypress tree|Sow Work #}}))/((4.5/35) * 2000) round 2}} speed if the tree has to be planted as well. This also ignores walking distance; the wood-fired generator often forces colonists to walk further as more trees are harvested.
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Also, you can make chemfuel out of [[raw food]]; {{Icon Small|corn}} [[corn plant|corn]] or even {{Icon Small|rice}} [[rice plant|rice]] take much less work to cultivate than trees, while taking up less space. Meanwhile, [[insect meat]] can be extremely plentiful and used all the same. Finally, [[boomalope]]s can create chemfuel from grass, which takes no work to grow.
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The only disadvantage of chemfuel generators is that they require chemfuel. [[Research#Biofuel refining|Biofuel Refining]] costs 700 points of research. Boomalopes require you to tame / buy the boomalopes in the first place. Provided you can make chemfuel, the chemfuel generator is strictly better.
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== Version history ==
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* [[Version/0.13.1135|0.13.1135]] - Added.
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* [[Version/0.15.1279|0.15.1279]] -  Fueled generator will consume fuel faster. Fuel duration 5 days -> 3 days 9 hours.
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* Beta 18 - Name changed from '''fueled generator''' to '''wood-fired generator''' to prevent ambiguity with the Chemfuel powered generator, which was added in the same update. No other changes made.
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* [[Version/1.1.0|1.1.0]] - Refueling is now toggleable.
  
 
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[[Category:Buildings]]
 
 
[[Category:Power]]
 
[[Category:Power]]

Latest revision as of 12:48, 27 September 2024

Wood-fired generator

Wood-fired generator

Produces power by consuming wood. Must be periodically loaded with wood fuel by hand.

Base Stats

Type
Building – Power
Market Value
265 Silver [Note]
Beauty
-20
HP
300
Flammability
100%
Path Cost
50 (21%)

Fuel

Usable Item(s)
Wood Wood
Capacity
75.0
Consumption Rate
22.0

Building

Size
2 × 2
Minifiable
False
Placeable
True
Passability
pass through only
Cover Effectiveness
75%
Blocks Wind
True
Terrain Affordance
Medium
Power
1000 W
Light Radius
3.44
Heat Per Second
6

Creation

Required Research
Electricity
Skill Required
Construction 4
Work To Make
2,500 ticks (41.67 secs)
Resources to make
Steel 100 + Component 2
Deconstruct yield
Steel 50 + Component 1
Destroy yield
Steel 25 + Component 0 - 1

A wood-fired generator is a power source that runs by burning wood as fuel, producing some heat as a byproduct.

Acquisition[edit]

Wood-fired generators can be constructed once the electricity research project has been completed. Each requires Steel 100 Steel, Component 2 Components, 2,500 ticks (41.67 secs) of work modified by the construction speed of the builder, and a construction skill of 4.

Once constructed, they cannot be re-installed, they can only be deconstructed.

Summary[edit]

The wood-fired generator consumes Wood 22 wood per day and generates a constant 1000W as long as it is switched on and fueled. It can hold up to 75 fuel at a time, for a maximum run time of 3.27 days. Fuel consumption is not dependent on how much power is actually drawn. Fuel has to be delivered to the generator by a hauler colonist. It can be switched off; in the off state it will neither consume fuel nor produce power.

It outputs light in a 6 tile radius, with the nearest 3.442 tiles being above 50% light level and considered lit. Note that the light source is centered at the bottom-left tile of the generator, rather than the "true" center of the generator. It heats at a rate of 6 heat per second[Exact mechanic unclear].

Analysis[edit]

Wood-fired generators incur considerable labor costs for chopping and hauling wood, but provide an improvement from neolithic technology. They can make a decent source of consistent, earlygame power.

Wood powered appliances[edit]

A variety of buildings are powered directly by wood, such as campfires and torch lamps. It is significantly more efficient to fuel a generator and run the electric equivalents, if all 1000 W of power is used. The generator does not scale with power use, so if power is wasted, then fueled versions may be superior. In addition, electric buildings require more infrastructure, and are vulnerable to solar flares and other interruptions.

Wood-powered appliance Wood per day Electric equivalent Equivalent wood per day[1]
Campfire[2] (roofed) Wood  10 Heater[2] Wood  3.85
Passive cooler[2] Wood  10 Cooler[2] Wood  4.4
Fueled stove Wood 160[Verify] Electric stove[3] Wood  7.7
Fueled smithy Wood  ?[Detail] Electric smithy[3] Wood  4.62
Torch lamp (roofed) Wood  2 Standing lamp[4] Wood  0.66
  1. ↑ Equivalent wood per day is assuming is the percentage of a wood fired generator power generation multiplied by the generators wood consumption. Note that this assumes that the generators entire production capacity is used.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Campfires and passive coolers regulate temperature at the same rate as heaters and coolers, but have a maximum/minimum temperature. In addition, both campfires and passive coolers are unable to be turned off, consuming wood until none is left.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Fueled stoves and smithies only consume power when being actively worked, while electric stoves and smithies have to manually toggled off to save power. This comparison assumes they are on for the same length of time.
  4. ↑ Standing lamps don't produce heat, unlike torch lamps, but light a larger area. This also does not include the effect of the Advanced lights halving the power consumption.

Wind turbines[edit]

Wind turbines are also unlocked via researching Electricity. They require no labor to maintain, but do require a large amount of space free of structures and trees. This can make them difficult to defend, and completely unsuitable in certain base layouts. Wind turbine power output is variable, realistically forcing the construction of batteries to smooth out periods of low power production.

If you have both wind and wood-fired generators, there's no reason why you can't use both at the same time. You can use wood when wind power is low, turning off the generator when extra power isn't required.

Chemfuel powered generators[edit]

A chemfuel powered generator is generally more efficient in terms of both wood and work. However, it is difficult to obtain chemfuel in the earlygame.

Each chemfuel generator generates 1,000 W of power. Assuming the colony is running a biofuel refinery to make chemfuel from wood, each consumes Wood 9 wood per day and an extra 257 ticks (4.28 secs) of work. Powering the biofuel refinery takes -170 W of power, but takes only 2,000 ticks (0.8 in-game hours) to produce enough fuel for 3.89 in-game days of fuel, or on average equivalent of a constant load of only 1.46 W.

The extra 257 ticks (4.28 secs) of work is not nothing, but the reduced wood saves at least 390 ticks (6.5 secs) of work in tree cutting work, assuming the most efficient harvest tree and that the tree doesn't have to be planted first. This means that a pawn requires a Plant Work Speed of 152% (Plants skill 13) to make it more work efficient to use the wood fired generator, and this increases to a massive 489% speed if the tree has to be planted as well. This also ignores walking distance; the wood-fired generator often forces colonists to walk further as more trees are harvested.

Also, you can make chemfuel out of raw food; Corn corn or even Rice rice take much less work to cultivate than trees, while taking up less space. Meanwhile, insect meat can be extremely plentiful and used all the same. Finally, boomalopes can create chemfuel from grass, which takes no work to grow.

The only disadvantage of chemfuel generators is that they require chemfuel. Biofuel Refining costs 700 points of research. Boomalopes require you to tame / buy the boomalopes in the first place. Provided you can make chemfuel, the chemfuel generator is strictly better.

Version history[edit]

  • 0.13.1135 - Added.
  • 0.15.1279 - Fueled generator will consume fuel faster. Fuel duration 5 days -> 3 days 9 hours.
  • Beta 18 - Name changed from fueled generator to wood-fired generator to prevent ambiguity with the Chemfuel powered generator, which was added in the same update. No other changes made.
  • 1.1.0 - Refueling is now toggleable.
Architect
Power
Power conduit (Hidden, Waterproof) • Power switch • Wood-fired generator • Chemfuel powered generator • Wind turbine
(research)
Battery • Geothermal generator • Solar generator • Watermill generator • Toxifier generatorContent added by the Biotech DLC • Bioferrite generatorContent added by the Anomaly DLC
(uncraftable)
Vanometric power cell • Unstable power cell Content added by the Royalty DLC
Related
Ship reactor • ElectroharvesterContent added by the Anomaly DLC

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